Thursday, September 28, 2006

The popular tourist destination in India is set to hire women to patrol its white-sand beaches as lifeguards for the first time. Goa will train women and men from the local fishing community to serve as lifeguards. This is remarkable as women in India going out to beaches in swimsuit is surely not a common sight. Details here.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), announced earlier this week that "public interest will best be served by maintaining the status quo" insofar as maintaining its air-transportation price-advertising rule. The DOT's decision was in keeping with the American Society of Travel Agents' (ASTA) comments , in which the Society argued for maintaining governmental restrictions on airline pricing in place to protect consumers. The DOT had solicited comments as to whether it should relax or possibly eliminate enforcement of its "One-Price Policy".The "One-Price Policy" was established by the DOT in 1984 with the intent of clarifying what is and is not a deceptive price advertisement. The policy mandates how airfares are advertised, allowing only for the exclusion from the total price of fees that are just paid to governments and those paid for agency services that are not part of the transportation service. Everything else, including fuel surcharges, must be incorporated into the quoted price. The DOT had proposed that changes to the policy be made on the grounds that (1) a long time has passed since the original rule was adopted, and (2) electronic communications have led to changes in (a) marketing practices and (b) consumer sophistication. (70 Fed. Reg. 73961-73962).Source: http://travelwirenews.com/eTN/21SEPT2006.htm)

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

According to the EU Press Room, "Fragmentation of the aviation regulation system still remains a problem. Today high level representatives of the national civil aviation administrations, aviation industry and the Commission met in Brussels to find ways to improve the efficiency of the system, cut costs and cover possible gaps in safety. The conference brought together the highest executives of both regulators and the industry stakeholder to formulate new and more efficient policies.Vice-President Jacques Barrot, Commissioner in charge of Transport stated: “This conference builds on the recent successes of the Community initiatives in aviation and aims to bring us from the current patchwork approach to an integrated framework that gives Europe the regulatory capabilities it needs in a globalising world”.Rapidly growing traffic and the success of air transport liberalisation in Europe have changed the environment where national legislators operate. The aviation industry is becoming more and more cross-border in its operations, but Europe’s regulatory structures have not kept up with the challenge. Many actors take responsibility for parts of the aviation system, in a way that is not always clear or efficient.The European Community has already taken action by tackling some of the most burning problems, be they in passenger rights or creating capacity and maintaining safety in an evolving marketIn order to modernise the European air traffic management sector, the Commission has also launched measures and initiatives such as the Single European Sky or SESAR, a new-generation air traffic management system (IP/05/1435). The extension of tasks of the European Aviation Safety Agency also aims to bridge existing gaps by including issues such as flight crew licensing, operations, airports and air traffic management (IP/05/1422).Further Information on the Conference will be made available on the following webpage:http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/2006_09_20_conference_en.htm"

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Civil Aviation Ministry in India has expressed concern over the impact of imposition of service tax on air travel on tour and travel business. In conjunction with the Tourism Ministry, Civil Aviation Ministry is intending to ask India's Finance Minister to reconsider the decision to impose service tax on air travel, which is now being charged on flying business class and first class on any airline.

Monday, September 18, 2006

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York overturned a bankruptcy court decision and granted Northwest Airlines' request for a preliminary injunction to prevent a threatened strike or work action by the company's flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants.For details see http://www.travelindustrydeals.com/news/875

Thai government on Friday announced new visa regulations for tourists limiting the foreign visitors to a maximum stay of 90 days each every six months in order to ease social problems and crime in the country. For details see http://www.travelindustryreview.com/news/3059

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Australian lawmakers are in a heated debate over a proposal that would require visitors to Australia to sign an 'Australian values' pledge before being granted a visa to enter the country, according to published reports. "It's wrong to expect tourists to sign up to a country s values for a visit," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Prime Minister Howard was replying to proposals by opposition leader Kim Beazley, who had proposed visa reforms to include a section for people to sign up to Australian values, laws and institutions of democracy (http://travelwirenews.com/eTN/14SEPT2006.htm).

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

"HOUSTON - The nominations are winding down. Thank you for the tremendous response thus far, though there is still time left to recognize general counsel and private attorneys for the 2007 Anthony G. Marshall Award. One deserving person who has made a significant impact in the hospitality legal, safety or security arenas will be recognized at The 5th Annual Hospitality Law Conference, February 8th and 9th, 2007 in Houston, Texas.The Hospitality Law Conference brings together over 350 general counsel, private attorneys, hospitality executives and industry experts from across the nation. The award, given in recognition of pioneering and lasting contributions to the fields of hospitality law, safety or security, was first given to Anthony G. Marshall, a renowned educator, author, speaker and columnist, at the 2005 conference. Banks Brown, a partner in the firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, was the honored recipient in 2006.'We honor Anthony Marshall for his pioneering and continuing contributions to the field of hospitality law. He was the first to define reasonable care in a way that the average hotel manager, who is not a lawyer, could understand,' states Stephen Barth, founder of HospitalityLaw.com.To nominate an individual for this prestigious honor, please submit by September 21st, 2006

Nominee

Brief biography of nominee

Contact information of submitter & nominee

HospitalityLawyer.com is an efficient, cost-effective way for law firms, litigation support businesses and vendors of safety and security products to reach a large audience of hospitality industry decision makers; providing the access to build relationships and share knowledge with other experts in the field.

Monday, September 04, 2006

As stated by the EU Press Room, "The Commission has adopted a Green Paper on detection technologies for law enforcement, customs and other security authorities to further enhance the interaction between public and private sectors and help Member States acquire the best tools available at the lowest possible cost.'Recent events in the UK have further underlined that detection devices must be continuously improved in order to reflect the ever changing threat posed by terrorists and criminals and to ensure that people are able to travel safely. Modern detection technologies have therefore an important role to play in the fight against crime and terrorism', said Vice-President Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security.Vice-President Frattini believes it is vital to establishing an effective public-private dialogue on security for better focussing investments on standardisation, research, certification and interoperability of detection systems and for transforming research results into useful and applicable tools. From this perspective the Vice-President attached great importance to a conference on 'Enhancing the Security of Explosives' that will be held in Brussels 9-10 October 2006, and which he will open formally. It will bring together the public and private sectors to tackle areas such as: components of explosives including liquids, detection, traceability and transport & storage.The Green Paper aims at further stimulating the public-private partnership, in order to promote the development of an advanced market in certified detection technology which should lead to greater availability of products and services at lower cost, more effectiveness and better protection of privacy.Detection technologies are increasingly used in the daily work of law enforcement authorities to fight terrorism and other forms of crime and play an important role in the daily lives of Europeans (boarding airplanes, taking a ferry, attending sports events, drinking water and food supply safety etc) as these technologies are used to protect our borders and check goods entering the territory of the European Union. Moreover they are essential for guarding private property and critical infrastructure.The Green Paper is available at the website."